What You Can Do About Climate Change

A nozzle pumps gas into a vehicle at a BP gas station, Thursday, June 30, 2016, in Hoboken, N.J. Switching to a car with better fuel economy is one way individuals can combat climate change, according to author and climate scientist Brenda Ekwurzel. (Julio Cortez/AP)

A Rainbow7 Bluetooth smart-enabled light bulb is illuminated at CES 2016 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Jan. 6, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Using new LED light bulbs is one of the household-level solutions. (David Becker/Getty Images)

Then he hears from Steven Cohen, executive director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, for an overview of institutional measures to slow and reverse the impacts of global warming.

4 Steps For Combating Climate Change From ‘Cooler Smarter’

Switch to a car with better fuel economy. Upgrading from a 20 mpg car to a 40 mpg car can save you 4,500 gallons of gasoline over the car’s life span. At today’s gas prices, that’s a total savings of more than $18,000.

Eat less meat, especially beef. An average family of four that cuts its meat intake in half will avoid roughly three tons of emissions annually.

Use power strips in your home office and home entertainment center to curb “phantom loads” and save a surprising amount on your electric bill. Keeping your laser printer turned on when not in use could be costing you as much as $130 annually.

Upgrade your refrigerator and air conditioner, especially if they are more than five years old. New ones are twice as efficient or more. For fridges: if they’re old an upgrade can pay for itself in as little as three years in energy savings alone.

You can read all of Ekwurzel’s household-level tips, from her book “Cooler Smarter,” here.